In the wake of the May 18 launch and capsize of a custom 90-foot expedition yacht in Anacortes, Wash., the founder and former owner of Northern Marine issued a statement.
Richard “Bud” LeMieux founded Northern Marine in 1995. LeMieux said in a statement emailed to Soundings Trade Only that he built 31 boats before he sold the business in August 2006.
In the statement he said:
“My past customers have been sending me the links on the articles that have been appearing throughout the media. … The 90-foot vessel that rolled over and sank during its launch here in Anacortes, Wash., is not or was not a Northern Marine vessel. It was sold and built by a company called New World Yacht Builders LLC here in Anacortes. I, after talking with past customers like Bruce Kessler, would like to … make that distinction very clear. The only portion of Northern Marine that built that vessel was the ‘assets,’ being the tools and information, which were under a purchase contract by a separate entity that was leasing them to New World Yacht Builders.”
LeMieux continued:
“I built and launched 17 full-displacement trawler yachts, of the 31 boats that I built from 1995 until I sold the business in August of 2006, on that very ramp, starting with the Spirit of Zopilote and ending with the Julianne (Show Boats Boat of the Year for its category). None of the launches ended in disaster or even near disaster. … The ramp got extended from 0-foot elevation to a minus-6-foot elevation in 2007 (after I sold the business), making it much easier to launch the vessels. I had to back down the ramp and actually drop into a hole at the end of the ramp to launch the boats. …
“I respectfully ask you to correct the name in the articles to both reflect the truth, as well as show some respect to the owners of the ‘Northern Marine’ vessels that are successfully out there in the world.”
